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Wednesday, 30 November 2016

When it comes to looking at any form of media, you’d have a
hard time finding a more powerful and influential force than sheer nostalgia. And to
help prove this theory, let’s look at the Harry Potter series, a film saga
built entirely on nostalgia. Now, I’m not saying this as an immediate negative
of the work itself but rather a side effect of the series as a whole. The film
series started and concluded at precisely the right times to latch onto the
global millennial mindset, creating that rare form of entertainment that people
have grown up alongside with. Those who grew up on these films tend to
reminisce on them with the same fidelity and clarity as their own real-life
schooling experiences. In today’s era of YA films desperately trying to align
themselves with teenaged kids, it’s surprising that this series managed to do
everything that they have been aiming for without really trying for it.
Naturally, with all this in mind, the announcement of a new film set in the
same universe was met with the exploding of several animal heads from the
shrill levels of squee that were uttered in response. But this is where the
flip side of nostalgia kicks in; the thought that what is considered perfect
through rose-tinted glasses cannot be improved upon, and any additions to the
canon would only sully it. Well, time to put that to the test with today’s
film. This is Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

Monday, 28 November 2016

This might have the single weirdest initial expectation of
any film I’ve covered on this blog so far, based purely on the people behind
the scenes. On one hand, you got director Denis Villeneuve, one of the greatest
filmmakers working today who specializes in digging deep into the murky guts of
humanity to create genuine works of art. On the other, you have writer Eric
Heisserer who, aside from penning the woefully unnecessary Nightmare On Elm
Street remake, also wrote this year’s winner for “No, I’m still not over this piece of shit” Lights Out. Conflicting opinions
is putting it mildly. Then again, the big failing with Lights Out wasn’t
exactly the writing, but more the director’s unwillingness to accept the far
darker aspects of the themes involved. Anyone who has sat through Villeneuve’s
recent works like Prisoners and Sicario will know that he can do no such thing.
To make matters even weirder, what really makes this film stand out ultimately has
nothing to do with explorations of morality or even getting into properly dark
territory. Why did I bring it up then? Because sometimes, even if we want to
argue otherwise, expectations don’t mean a damn thing. This is Arrival.

Sunday, 27 November 2016

This is another one of those occasions where I find myself
unable to really preface this review with anything resembling snarky intellect.
Quite frankly, my heart is using all the effort I have to heave its way into my
mouth to let my brain to get a word in edgeways. As such, I’m just going to let
this review speak for itself because, dear God, this is a rather intense
experience. This is The Light Between Oceans.

Saturday, 26 November 2016

When it comes to the divide between mainstream blockbusters
and arthouse features, the key difference I’ve found between them is how the
audience digests them, as it were. With mainstream films, they are designed to
be enjoyed in the moment in a rather visceral fashion; this would explain why
smaller release action films aren’t referred to as “arthouse” and instead as
“straight-to-DVD”. Art films, like most other instances of Art with a capital
A, largely exist for the sake of contemplation after the fact. The usually
deeper subtexts and more intricate cinematic techniques stimulate further
discussion after the fact, looking into the greater context of the work rather
than instant gratification. Now, there is no ‘right’ way to make films and,
when done right, both of these styles can lead to great works of cinema.
However, of the two examples, I find myself being more hesitant when it comes
to art films. After getting through today’s film, hopefully I’ll be able to
explain why that is. This is Nocturnal Animals.

Friday, 25 November 2016

In no uncertain terms, I don’t have the will nor the
intestinal fortitude to ever consider joining the military. I’m a proper soft
lefty that sees all life as sacred and not worth ending over what are usually
rather petty squabbles, and the very thought of killing another person for any
reason makes me incredibly uneasy. However, that doesn’t mean that I hold any
ill will towards those who fight in my place. I may have my issues with the
higher-ups who send them out, usually for the reasons why certain governments
see fit to get involved in war, but I have nothing but respect for those who do
the fighting themselves. Not that cinema seems to share that respect, though,
as more times than not, modern military cinema goes for the murky and
moralistic approach that is meant to make us question just whose lives are
being affected, be it through death or otherwise. So, with noted firebrand Mel
Gibson returning to the director’s chair, how does today’s war film turn out?
This is Hacksaw Ridge.

Thursday, 24 November 2016

It’s Marvel time again and, while not quite as problematic as Civil War, we are once again dealing with a rather tricky bit of comic book adaptation history. We’re furthering
our way into Phase 3 of the Cinematic Universe with an origin for yet another
superhero who doesn’t exactly have the best on-screen history. Way back during
the days of the Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk TV show, Stan Lee and CBS attempted
to kick-start a Doctor Strange series to run alongside Hulk and The Amazing
Spider-Man. Needless to say, it didn’t end well and the series wasn’t picked up
for glaringly obvious reasons. However, unlike Spidey and the Hulk, this was
the first and, up until now, only
live-action appearance; there isn’t any form of reputable precedent for this
one. Say what you will about Guardians Of The Galaxy, at least that film was
able to completely blindside audiences thanks to a complete lack of mainstream
recognition. Strange, on the other hand? Not so much. This may be one of the
bigger tests of Marvel’s uncanny ability for consistent quality standards, even
more so than the talking raccoon who is best friends with a talking tree. Time
to put reality through the wringer; this is Doctor Strange.

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

For as much as I’ve argued otherwise, I do understand that
separating the actions of the artist with the published art can be harder said
than done. The amount of times I hear Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport around my
house (long story involving younger siblings) on a daily basis is made even
tougher knowing what and where Rolf Harris is writing nowadays. Yes, we’re
talking about the king of all things neurotic and Jewish Woody Allen once
again, and in an attempt to keep with my central doctrine concerning this, I
have actually liked his recent output. From the outstanding character drama
Blue Jasmine to the sharply written rom-com Magic In The Moonlight to the wonky
but still commendable morality play Irrational Man, I don’t have much to argue
with in terms of his artistic output. However, once it gets to the point where said artist essentially inserts himself into the art, that disconnect proves ever trickier. This is Café Society.

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Death Note holds a very special place in my heart, given
that it was the first manga series that I ever read and properly got stuck
into. It ended up inflaming my love for intricate battles of wits and
cat-and-mouse shenanigans, all mixed up with some of the most iconic characters
in the medium. I’ll admit to not having read all of the series, but I’ve read more than enough of it to know
that I adore this series and its writing sensibilities. Naturally, after
discovering that the latest anime adaptation showing at my local is a
continuation of the story I hold so dear, you better believe that I was going
to check it out. But outside of my fanboy expectations, is it worth watching?
Get out your potato chips, this is Death Note: Light Up The New World.

Monday, 21 November 2016

Last year, one of the bigger critical successes was the
harrowing war thriller Sicario. It also represented one of the few times when I
met the critical consensus not just in opinion, but in the magnitude of that
opinion. Sicario, structurally, was easily the best film of the year and all of
its individual pieces were genius on their own and created sheer magic when
brought together. Since almost everyone involved already laudable careers to
fall back on, I sincerely hoped that writer Taylor Sheridan would also stick
around. I mean, if that was his first attempt, I legitimately can’t wait to see
what he’s cooked up for us this time. So, what are we waiting for? This is Hell
Or High Water.

Friday, 18 November 2016

Some of my long(er)-time readers may have noticed that I am
not one to shy away from certain aspects of mental disorders. Specifically,
when it comes to how modern-day cinema portrays said disorders. As someone who
freely admits to using movie-watching as a form of personal therapy (less risky
to lash out at a piece of fiction than at an actual person), seeing films use
mental conditions that I personally relate to can be a big part of that. Some
films do an incredible job with them like Inside Out, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children and X+Y, and some can make a complete dog’s breakfast out of
it like Mommy, Love Is Now and the more recent headache of Vaxxed. Today, we have another addition to that canon, except this is
something that I don’t think exists in that great a number out there in the
larger cinematic world. And quite frankly, we need more films like this. This is The Accountant.

Thursday, 17 November 2016

Despite every reason why I shouldn’t, I have been anxiously awaiting
the day that I can finally discuss this film in my usual rambling fashion. Over
the last several months, I’ve been looking at release dates and interest groups
involving this film and anti-vaxxing in general, just waiting for when the film
would be released here in Australia. I mean, if God’s Not Dead 2 not only get a
cinematic release but a distressingly wide release at that, surely something
like this warrants similar treatment. Alas, due to the phenomenally terrible
press it’s gotten, it seems that there are some things that even we won’t screen… well, for an extended
amount of time. After some digging, I found that the film has been screened all
of once as part of the Castlemaine
CLIFF film festival. Since I’ve reviewed films here before with only one local screening to their name, and any release no matter how small meets my ad-hoc
requirements for a review, it has now fallen under my purview. This may be the
only time that I seek out a film purely for discussion purposes, as the whole
anti-vaxxer movement has become quite toxic of late, so hopefully this will
clear the air a bit. This is Vaxxed: From Cover-Up To Catastrophe.

Wednesday, 16 November 2016

Wow, I have not been looking forward to this one, more so
than possibly any other film this year aside from God’s Not Dead 2. The reason
why is down to two simple words: Isla Fisher. To the rest of the world, Isla is
the woman married to Sacha Baron Cohen and one of the few Australian actresses
that has all but completely assimilated into the Hollywood food chain. To us
here in Australia, she’s the amazingly annoying redhead who flooded our screens
with ads for ING. No joke, she had a “turn your phones off” bit that was a)
irritating beyond all human reason and b) shown in front of about 90-95% of the
films I saw last year. That’s close to 200 times that I had to hear her screech
about how her phone ringing ruined her “perfect” take. Needless to say, I now
have an irreparable hatred for Isla Fisher and, as a result, I am really not
looking forward to seeing her on-screen again in any capacity. Ugh… This is Keeping Up With The Joneses.

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Robinson Crusoe, that classic story of a sailor stranded on
a deserted island that, over many years of pop culture dissemination, has been
regularly confused with similar stories like Gilligan’s Island. Or, at least,
that’s how my generation has come to understand it. So, possibly as a means to
better educate younger audiences on the matter, today’s film shows a cross
between the literary classic and the animated family film tradition of talking
animals. Yeah, this sounds like a film that needs to exist(!) This is Robinson
Crusoe: The Wild Life.

Monday, 14 November 2016

One Piece is up there with the likes of Naruto, Bleach and
more recently Toriko as one of the biggest titles in Japanese manga. Of course,
ask your average Westerner about it and they will likely recount the horror
stories of what 4Kids Entertainment did the series. Now, I don’t have nearly as
much issue with that version of the show (I’d even say that the much-maligned
theme song is pretty catchy in its own right) but then again I don’t have as
much experience with the title as a whole. I’ve read a volume or two of the
manga and I thought it was decent enough but it never really grabbed in the way
that other series like Death Note and Toriko did. Oh trust me, the new Death Note movie
review is coming up soon but, for right now, we’re dealing with the latest iteration
of the One Piece anime… and going from this alone, I think it’d be worth it to
go through those volumes again. This is One Piece Film: Gold.

Thursday, 10 November 2016

Aside from making me feel really bloody old knowing that the
film is over a decade old by now, Eli Roth’s directorial debut Cabin Fever was
the world’s first exposure to Roth’s… interesting approach to filmmaking.
Namely, hateful lead characters with sprinklings of batshit insane in the
script. It has a handful of scenes that have gone into memetic legend because
of their strangeness, none more so than this little beautyand
it set a trend for horror writing that has plagued us ever since. It’s another
example of the exception of the rule that became
the rule, only here that prospect turned out to be far more disastrous than
anyone could have foreseen. And then some idiot by the professional name of
Travis Z decided he wanted to remake this “classic”. I’d call this pointless,
except it isn’t even the worst offender in that regard this year alone, so I’m
willing to give this film its day in court. This is Cabin Fever.

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

A couple years back, I looked at a fun little slice of
psychological horror with Oculus. Since then, director/co-writer Mike Flanagan
has been keeping himself busy. And by “busy”, I mean “Good God, how does one
person have that much motivation?!” because he has all of three films slated for this year alone. I’m exhausted just thinking
about that amount of effort, so hats off to him. Then again, that kind of
aptitude is usually reserved for people who make schlock, porn or both, so
maybe this arrangement isn’t as ideal as it sounds. Then again again, having seen
this film, I couldn’t be more excited to check out the other two because… wow,
this is something else. This is Ouija: Origin Of Evil.

Monday, 7 November 2016

Up to this point, the main reasoning behind the films I’ve
watched has fallen under the usual semi-obligation to the art of cinema. This
is hopefully going to be the only exception to that rule, as this time the only
real reason I’m bothering to look at this is for popularity. At the time of
writing this, my review for the last Pokémon movie is not only the only review
of mine to reach over 1000 views, it’s also easily my most read review. Combine
that with the current popularity of Pokémon Go (at least, I’m assuming that it’s
still popular) and the fact that my readership averages out around 30 views per
review, and you have the closest I’ll ever get to a clickbait article. While I
cleanse my soul for the thought, let’s get into the film already. This is Pokémon
The Movie: Volcanion And The Mechanical Marvel.

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Zach Galifianakis, for as varied and kind of inconsistent as
his filmography is, might be the quintessential modern comedian. He embodies
our still-growing fascination with random and rather annoying occurrences,
working with some of the biggest suppliers of that style of humour like Funny
Or Die and Tim & Eric, yet he has enough common sense to not let the actual
humour of those occurrences just get washed away. Hell, his breakout role in
The Hangover was a serious lightning-in-a-bottle scenario that even that film’s
sequels weren’t able to replicate. Not only that, he’s managed to move into
more down-to-earth fare with Birdman and did a damn good job keeping up with
the already stellar cast. He has two theatrical films out in cinemas right now,
and even though this film’s poster has been lingering and instilling a form of
dread in me for many months now, this is the one that I’m looking forward to by
comparison. Stranger than fiction strikes again; this is Masterminds.

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Growing up as I did when the big debacle concerning The Da
Vinci Code made headlines, I’ve probably got the same mental association with
Dan Brown films as the rest of the world: Convoluted mystery stories justified
by a business-casual approach to history. Of course, I’ve spent the years since
first watching Da Vinci and Angels & Demons playing a lot of Assassin’s
Creed, so fidelity to history and genuine science clearly isn’t an entertainment
factor for me… most days, at least. As such, I don’t take as much issue with
these films as the general consensus. Sure, they fall into some pretty
illogical pitfalls with alarming regularity, and main character Robert Langdon
can shift erratically from smartest man in the room to worst investigator ever,
but as a couple of potboiler mystery thrillers, they serve their purpose. Yes,
I realize how long I’ve spent lambasting Akiva Goldsman’s work, but the Dan
Brown adaptations are easily some of his most tolerable contributions. Since
Akiva has stepped away from the typewriter for this one, there’s nowhere to go
but up for this series… maybe? This is Inferno.